New OCC theatrical production, ‘Mrs. Packard,’ debuts March 19

FARMINGTON HILLS — After 166 years, Elizabeth Packard may soon become better known and receive some of the credit she deserves, thanks to theater students at Oakland Community College in Farmington Hills.

The students’ production of Emily Mann’s play “Mrs. Packard,” under the direction of Jennifer Little, is set to open March 19.

“I’m confused (as to) why we haven’t heard of her, really, because she’s really the reason why people get a trial and somebody can’t just call you insane and they throw you in an insane asylum,” said lead actress Katrina Isrow, who plays the title character. “She’s really the reason why they changed that — especially for women, when a husband could just say, ‘Oh, I don’t like what you say,’ and they have you put away. She’s the reason why that all changed. So, yeah, I have no idea why we don’t hear about her.”

Isrow said she hopes that other directors will choose to perform this play so that Packard will become a household name.  

“She’s such a strong, resilient woman and I think that’s such a role model,” Isrow said.

The play chronicles Packard’s life and her contributions to the reform of both women’s rights and mental health care. 

“I think it’s important that we talk about the rights of women, because back in that time they really didn’t have any, and they were just advocating for the right to vote, and these kind of privileges that men were just given but unfortunately women didn’t have the honor to get when they were born,” said CJ Lewis, who portrays Packard’s husband, the Rev. Theo Packard. 

Lewis said he feels it is important to remember the fight of these women and remember who helped to establish the rights that women have today. 

“In history I never learned of Mrs. Packard and how she was an advocate for mentally ill patients and how she was one of the founders of providing women with their rights to be, like, human,” Lewis said. “At that time they were just treated as items, like something of property to be dealt with, and it’s just remembering how women fought for their right to be considered a person, as they should.”

The production takes place in an Illinois insane asylum in the 1860s where Packard was institutionalized for three years for vocalizing her disagreement with her husband’s religious beliefs.

Lewis said that his character’s behavior  was due to the way he was nurtured by society. That was something that was instilled in Mr. Packard — that a woman had to be insane to disagree with her husband’s beliefs. 

According to Lewis, Packard is lesser known than other women who helped win women’s rights because she made “small steps in the right direction and most people don’t pay attention to those smaller steps.”

Actress Julie Kline said that although any female heroine is really interesting to her, she can relate to Packard’s story, as her great-grandmother, Florence Reckinger, was institutionalized because of  a similar situation in the 1950s

“My great grandmother was institutionalized in Eloise, which is like an insane asylum in Michigan, for 10 years, forcefully committed after her husband passed away, and was tortured. Like, they did experiments on her for 10 years and just released her after finding out that ‘Oh, she has a thyroid imbalance,’ said Kline. “I just found this out like two years ago.”

Kline plays Lizzie Bonner in the production. Bonner was an Irish matron at the asylum. According to Kline, Bonner was described as being stronger and scarier than most men, and was extremely abusive to the patients. 

“She would carry around these big keys and beat women to a pulp,” Kline said. “ She represents how women can be involved in patriarchy and how it’s equally if not more threatening and dangerous to society.”

Kline said that although Bonner is the antithesis of Packard, they started off the same.  

“They started off as women who wanted to be free thinkers and you either decide to shut down or open up, right?” said Kline. “And I think Lizzie Bonner, through no fault of her own, just shut down for protection of herself, but then just started to abuse women who spoke out, probably just to survive”

Kline said she feels that people won’t be surprised with this part of the women’s history movement.

“Unfortnately, maybe a lot of us are desensitized to the horrible things that are even transpiring currently, desensitized may be the wrong word, but I think we know what our country is capable of, and 200 years sounds like a long time, so there is kind of this disassociation, maybe fantasy element, but then when you think of like my great grandmother a hundred years later going through a similar thing, and now almost another 100 years later a lot has changed but we still have so many difficulties,” Kline said. “But it is an intense show.”

“I think everyone can benefit from it. I think that everyone needs to feel inspired right now,” Isrow said. “The climate of the world right now is very scary and I think it’s easy to feel like there is nothing you can do and to give up hope, but I think that stories like Elizabeth Packard’s make you realize that it’s so important not to and to fight for what you believe in and just stand up for what you think is right.”

“Mrs. Packard” will be performed at the Smith Theatre on OCC’s Farmington Hills Campus on March 19 and 20 and again on March 26 and 27. General Admission tickets cost $10 and tickets for seniors and non-OCC students cost $5. Tickets are free for OCC students, staff and alumni. Sign language students will be signing the performance to make sure hard of hearing guests are able to understand and enjoy the show.